Hello, looking for a bit of advice.. the company i work for has asked me to do some 3D visuals\animations for a couple of projects instead of buying professional stuff.

As the stuff i produce is sub-photorealistic i was planning to charge around half of what a professional 3D visualisation company would for the equivalent.

Only problem is I have little to no knowledge of such pricing & google doesnt seem to be helping.. so i was hoping anyone who has dealt with this on either client or visualiser side might share some info?

or anyone else offer an opinion on how much I should charge for a 3D model of a 10 flat development? (prob around 10-20hrs work sketchup\3dsmax & id have cad plans)?

Honestly, they are all approximately equally good. It is just a matter of personal preference and what you want to do. The free Blender is just as good as any of the others. They all lack some features compared to others, and all have extra features not in some of the others. Some have their own strengths as you said, with houdini, particles. Lightwave does not have bad particles either, and it is just a matter of knowing what you are doing with the others. For animation, Maya, Cinema 4D, or Blender.

I agree, they are very similar although an expert can pick the differences. What you really need though is experience. Everyone thinks that a 3D application will do it for you... sorry... it wont... It takes years sometimes....

As far as pricing goes, it is all over the place. In the current recession there are some crazy cheap prices out there, especially out of India and China. Work out what you need to do the job and start there as there is no "rule".